January 27, 2014

San Francisco Seaplane Adventures

I think all pilots, subconsciously or not, gravitate towards airports. We can't keep our eyes from focusing on overflying airplanes and following them to airports, or at least that is what I do. While visiting San Francisco this past weekend I noticed several airplanes flying over the various sites of that wonderful city. I knew they could have flown from one of many nearby airfields. In fact just a few years earlier I had flown with Jason Miller out of San Carlos (KSQL) and enjoyed a flightseeing tour along the bay and Pacific coast including a flyby of the Golden Gate Bridge.

What caught my eye on Friday was a beautiful de Havilland Beaver on floats flying low along the bay. I wondered where it was based before getting distracted by my heavy breathing as I hoofed up another sweat-inducing hill that the city is known for. The next day I rented a bike and rode from San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bride to Sausalito. My goal was to visit Old Mill Park, just a few miles past Sausalito, to check out world's tallest trees.

On the map I was provided was a reference to a float plane base, which I could not pass on checking out during my adventure. The ride was beautiful and has become one of my favorite ways to enjoy San Francisco. Even better then the ride was the encounter with Seaplane Adventures.

I pedaled up to their dock and popped in and asked if they would mind if I walked out on their dock to check out their airplanes. Floating next to the dock were a Cessna 172 on floats and the de Havilland Beaver I had seen the day prior. While talking to the owner, Aaron, he asked if I wanted to go for a ride. He was just getting ready to take another couple up for a ride and had space for one more. I quickly tossed aside my goals of spending a day in nature for an opportunity to fly above San Francisco in one of my favorite airplanes. This would be my second flight in the Beaver, My wife and I were blessed with the opportunity to land on a glacier in Alaska about ten years ago and still remains one of my fondest aviation experiences.

I was both disappointed and pleased to learn that one of the other passengers was a pilot. Disappointed because as a pilot he too had interest in the right seat and had requested it. However, I enjoyed the opportunity to talk aviation with both Aaron and Les and his wife who had flown down to San Francisco via private aviation (Hat tip to Open Airplane's Rod Rakic*). My words will never be able to do justice to the views we enjoyed, nor for that matter do these pictures (All I had was my iPhone). But, I thought I would share a few of the videos and photos I took and compiled below to give you a feel of what it is like.

If you find yourself in San Francisco be sure to check out Seaplane Adventures. I guarantee they will take great care of you. The owner mentioned in addition to flightseeing they also offer floatplane training, something I might consider next time I am in town.

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